The Henry Salvatori Center and the Marian Miner
Cook Athenaeum, in conjunction with the Claremont Institute, are proud to present a luncheon talk by
the official biographer of one of the twentieth century's
greatest statesmen and men of letters, Sir Winston
Churchill.

Three years ago, Martin Gilbert, one of Britain's most
distinguished historians, completed the eighth and final
volume of Churchill's official biography. Now, drawing
on 25 years of research, Gilbert has written Churchill: A
Life (1991), the first single-volume biography to be based on
Churchill's personal, political, and secret archives. In
his remarks at CMC, Gilbert will survey Churchill's
storied career, explore his genius for statesmanship,
and respond to recent criticisms of Churchill's wartime
leadership.

Born in London in 1936, Gilbert was among several
thousand British children evacuated to Canada during
the Blitz. After returning home in 1944, he attended
Highgate School, served in the British Army, and
graduated with honors from Magdalen College, Oxford.
He stayed on at Oxford as a senior research scholar for
graduate work in Soviet and British imperial history,
and in 1962 was elected a fellow of Merton College.

That same year he became research assistant to
Randolph Churchill, Sir Winston's only son, then
engaged in writing the first two volumes of the official
biography. After Randolph's death in 1968, Gilbert
began work on the six volumes that would complete the
project. Among his other books are Auschwitz and the
Allies (1982), The Roots of Appeasement (1966), a biography of Anatoly
Scharansky, and twelve historical atlases.

Please join us for lunch at noon and Martin Gilbert's
talk at 12:30 p.m.